上週五，當我們把員工的每週更新彙總到一起時，我們的編輯們正在清理媒體的雜亂（再見，六個月前的《紐約客》雜誌），戒掉對Instagram的沉迷，併發現了白噪音機器的樂趣。

本週，我們要上芭蕾課，升級我們的軟體，創造巧妙的簡訊快捷方式，找到讓孩子們有空的創造性方法。

你這周做了什麼升級？請在評論中告訴我們。

Skip barre class in favor of the real thing

I upgraded my barre class to a ballet class. There is an actual ballet studio in my city (the Pitt**urgh Ballet Theater) that offers drop-in classes open to the public. Since I’ve tried barre classes at two different studios recently, and found them boring and repetitive, I thought I’d try the real thing instead. Ballet class is so much fun. The first half of class was all about practicing skills at the barre, which isn’t the same kind of burning/exhausting workout as a barre class, but it definitely challenges your body while giving your brain something to do. Then we did some fancier moves on the floor (leaping, spinning). Live piano music too, by the way. The class is a little tricky to follow if you don’t know the terminology, so for best results, read up beforehand. My instructor was super friendly to beginners, though, so I never felt too lost.

beth skwarecki, health editor

Automate your daily check-ins

Every day, when I leave work, I send a text message to my partner, who usually works from home. I’ll ask if she needs anything from the outside world while I’m on the way home, or what the dinner situation is, just in case I need to hit the grocery store for some essential ingredients. The days I forget to text her usually coincide with days where the fridge is empty, or when she’d like me to pick up a cider beer on the way home. So I employed IFTTT to help me never forget that all-important text message. Using my Android device, I created an IFTTT applet to text her every weekday at 6pm, asking if I need to grab anything on the way home.

patrick austin, staff writer

Invest in a tricked out mouse

My five-year-old Logitech G700 finally died, so I switched to the G502. While I’m learning to love wireless headphones, I don’t really need a wireless mouse, but I do need a hell of a lot of butt***. Not for gaming, but for internet browsing.

nick douglas, staff writer

Make time for “morning pages”

Inspired by Jaime Green’s recent tl80 post on morning pages, this week, I decided to give the process a try. The idea is to write three pages of anything, first thing in the morning, to kickstart creative ideas and clear your head. Admittedly, I’m using it more for head-clearing and as a de-facto journal than as a supplement to some greater creative project, but so far, I love it. I don’t have time to do it every day (and some days I’ve decided that writing a few short grafs is better than skipping things altogether just because I don’t have time for the full three pages). But I’ve found it’s a really nice way to organize your thoughts and center yourself, even if it starts out as stream-of-c***ciousness n***ense.

virginia k. **ith, managing editor

Use the internet to improvise a coloring book

It’s a simple thing, but when my four-year-old comes into my home office while I’m working, I’ll ask her what character she likes, and then I’ll do a Google image search for “_ coloring page,” and print it out. The first time I printed out Minnie Mouse, her mind was blown. She ran downstairs to her dad, yelling, “Mommy can make any character!” Now she thinks the printer is some magical voodoo wonder device. The cool thing about it is that coloring keeps her occupied (and quiet) for a good 20 minutes or so.

michelle woo, parenting editor

Get your books off the floor, finally

My upgrade this week is that I finally got a bookshelf. My books were stacked in a very bohemian fashion on the floor, and it was starting to mess up their spines. They do look much better on a shelf, and now I have more floor space.

claire lower, food & beverage editor